Valve-gear



(No Model.)

A. L. IDE.

` VALVE GEAR. No. 319,819. PatentedJune 9, 1885.

NA FEIERS. PhnwLilhogmphnr. wamngwn, D. C.

ALBERT L. IDE, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

VALVE-GEAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 319,819, dated June 9, 1885.

Application filed February 18, 1885. (No model.)

this specification.

rIhe object of this invention is to provide an improved construction in valve-gears for steam-engines; and itconsists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claim.

The invention is herein illustrated in conneciion with a stationary horizontal engine similar io one shown and described in an application, Serial No. 125,672, which was filed by Ineupon the 27th day of March, 1884.

In the accompanying drawings, which show an engine of the character above described,

embodying my invention, Figure l isl a rear side view of the engine,the cylinder and steamchest thereof being shown in section,and part of the frame as broken away to more clearly illustrate the construction of the valve-gear ing. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail section of the same, taken upon line x w of Fig. l.

A is the main frame or bed of the engine, and B is the cylinder thereof, which is secured horizontally at one end of the frame so as to overhang the latter.

C is a crank-shaft having a bearing at one end of the frame A, and also supported by a suitable pillow-block mounted upon a frame or standard,as shown in the application above referred to. Said shaft G is provided with the crank-disk G and an eccentric, C2, from which the steam-valve is actuated. Ihe eccentric herein shown is of a class adapted to shift laterally upon the shaft, and is adapted for use in connection with the kind of governor known as dy-wheel7 governor-such, for instance, as is shown in Patent N o. 308,498, granted November 25, 1884, to the present applicant.

The cylinder B is, as shown, provided with a piston, E, of any ordinary or preferred construction, to which is attached a piston-rod, E', provided with a cross-head, F, Fig. 2,eon

herein shown, of the form known as hollowpiston valve, and is operated from the eccentric 0 2 through the medium of arock-shaft, J, which is provided with an upwardly-projecting arm, J, connected with an eccentricrod, K, and a downwardly-projecting arm,Jl, connected with the valve by means of a valverod, I, and connecting-rod I2.

rIhe rock-shaft J, as herein shown, isy con-l structed and supported in the engine-frame in a manner fully shown and described in the application No. 125,672, hereinbefore referred to, said shaft being located transversely be- -neath the lower slide, G', and havinga suitable bearing at its front end formed in the metal composing one of the side walls of thev lower hollow base of the engine-frame, and atits rear end provided with a bearing in a circular plate, L, bolted to the back surface of the frame,.said plate being provided with a hub, Z, affording an extended bearing for the shaft. The plate L is constructed to cover an opening, L', in the frame, through which the rock-shaft may be removed, as and for the purposes fully set forth in said application.

It is a well-known fact that in all engines having a crank-shaft and connecting-rod the piston travels faster at the back or outer end of the cylinder than at the front or inner end, this effect arising from the circumstance that when the crank-pin is vertically above the axis of the shaft, and has therefore accomplished half of its horizontal movement, the piston, on account of the inclination of the connecting-rod,will have made more than half its stroke, or, in other words,will at such time be nearer the end of the cylinder adjacent to the crank-shaft than to the opposite or outer end. For the reason above stated a greater amount of steam is required in the back or outer end of the cylinder in order to get the same steam-pressure on that side of the piston as on the other, and in order to obtain this result it is proposed, in the engine herein shown, to give to the slide-valve a longer and more rapid stroke when giving steam at the outer end of the cylinder; or, in other words, to so construct the valve-connections that the valve will travel with the same relative speed as the piston in all parts of the stroke. For this purpose, in the construction of the valveconnections herein shown, the arms J and J 2 of the rock-shaft J, instead of being arranged opposite each other upon the shaft, are placed at an angle to each other, so that the end of one arm,while having the same angular movement, will pass through a shorter horizontal distance in a part of its stroke. This construction is illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, in which the arm J,with which the eccentric-rod is connected, is arranged to oscillate at equal distances at either side of a vertical line passing through the axis of the shaft, while theV depending arm J2 is placed at an inclination toward the eccentric.

It is obvious that if the arms J and J2 are arranged exactly opposite to each other on the shaft the movement of the valve will correspond with the movement of the eccentricrod, and will therefore be uniform at each end of the stroke; but by iuclining the arm'J2, which is joined to the valve-rod in the manner described, said arm is caused to oscillate in an arc at one side of a vertical line drawn through the pivotal axis of the rock-shaft, and the horizontal movement of the end of the arm will therefore be less in that portion of the are adjacent to the eccentric than in the part of said arc which is remote therefrom. The arc through which the crank-pin upon the' arm J2 is constructed to move is shown by the dotted lines y y in Fig. 1, and the arc through which the crank-pin upon the arm J moves by the lines y y in the same figure. It is obviously immaterial as to whether the arm J or J2 is arranged to oscillate at one side of a'vcrtical line passing through the axis of the rock-shaft, the same effect being produced in either case.

In order to provide a convenient means for.

tion, k, adapted-to fit over a pivot-pin, j, at-

tached to the arm J. The connecting-rod K also is preferably provided upon its end with be readily moved by hand when desired.

By this means the eccentric-rod may be read! ily unhooked from the lever J and the steamvalve reversed by hand, when desired, to admit steam to warm the cylinder and steamchest before starting. This is an especially desirable feature of construction, it being a well-known fact that engines should never be started with cold cylinders.

By moving the lever J" by hand, as described, also, the engine may be reversed to relieve the cylinder of water before starting and in reversing or backing the engine to assist in starting it, as well asfor the purpose of detecting lost motion or too much play in crank-pin, cross-head, or pillow-block bearing.

I claim as my invention- A rock-shaft for transmitting motion from the eccentric-rod to the valve-rod of a steamengine, provided with projecting arms con- `a handle, k', andthe arm J similarly provided `with a handle, j', whereby the said parts may nected with the valve-rod and eccentric-rod,

said arms being placed at an angle with each other, whereby the slide-valve is caused to travel with the same relative speed as the steam-piston at both ends of the stroke, sub'- stantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT L. IDE.

Witn esses:

GHAs. A. vOlne, H. L. IDE. 

